British Workers "among worst idlers" say Tories

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Tremaine

Guest

Five MPs argue in a book due out next month, that British workers are among the most idle and should emulate "parts of Asia". "The five MPs - who are all members of the Free Enterprise Group of Tory MPs - say the UK needs to reward a culture of "graft, risk and effort" if it is to compete with fast-growing nations. They go further: "poor productivity" is caused by poor work ethics and attitudes in the UK". Apparently, Britain would do well to "follow work ethics in Singapore, South Korea and Hong Kong". This lot, by the way, are the "class of 2010" - MPs elected to Parliament at the last election. So you'd better watch out. The new kids on the block could be on a mission to get all Asian with us.

"Once they enter the workplace, the British are among the worst idlers in the world," they write. "We work among the lowest hours, we retire early and our productivity is poor." "The MPs' arguments will intensify the debate in the coalition government about how to reverse the slide in the economy, which has seen the UK slip into a double dip recession". That's if the British can get in to the work place, at all. And whether they're locals, disabled, getting on a bit, or fit the diversity and inclusion targets. But of course, Britain's proud of and renowned for its fantastic tolerance and diversity. Sounds sarky? Good.

"Many Conservatives on the right of the party argue the government's pro-growth initiatives are inadequate and that changes to the labour market, tax cuts and other "supply side" measures needed to boost competitiveness are being held back by the Lib Dems".

The TUC replied to the five's new book and accusations with "It's not the UK work ethic which is holding the country back but a lack of demand in the economy - a situation that is being made considerably worse by government spending cuts". We do know that British business has been guilty of giving jobs away to foreign imports, even the job creation schemes. Because foreigners accept lower wages and are "more reliable" than the locals. Could be all bollocks, but it's happened.

Now do we have a rising Asian culture influencing British government, who are also pissed off with getting up to sort the Newspapers at six every morning, and think Bill down the road should have his turn. The lazy tw@t. Or is it all just so much rubbish, and this lot are just trying to flog their book. Are there even that many jobs available, and are the larger UK employers just not helping?

Or do these five Tories have a point when they say the UK needs to get Asian about its work attitudes.

LE

LE

As I work for a large company employing a variety of people of all ages, I find that hard to argue with when I work with people who seem to double their holiday allowance with sick days, and spend half the time they are at work just wandering round different departments to gossip while pretending its work related. Its a shame I'm not a manager there or there would be some changes to attitude among certain staff!

LE

Old-Salt

Perhaps if the example set by our MP's were better the workforce would follow. As it is, I believe the workforce follows the poor example set by our political elite. On reflection, generally politicians of all persuasions and strata do not give great leadership.

I agree, Asian culture is not something to aspire too. However, having been out of the country for some time, popping back and forth, I do notice how sloppy things are getting....just from simple things such as BT engineers cars not being washed for god knows how long, roads not being repaired to high standards etc.

However, thats not to say that all British workers are idle and I have definatly seen much more idleness in other european countries. I also do not think you can class a whole part on the views of 5 little known tories. To say that the tories are utter ***** and live on a different planet is ridiculous, particularly when we have just come out of leadership of such a political party that thought that the more it borrowed, the better the economy would be (despite the fact that its on the verge of bankruptcy itself) and that the tory party are making progress in sorting out the problems that Labour in its ludicrous infinite wisdom caused

LE

As I work for a large company employing a variety of people of all ages, I find that hard to argue with when I work with people who seem to double their holiday allowance with sick days, and spend half the time they are at work just wandering round different departments to gossip while pretending its work related. Its a shame I'm not a manager there or there would be some changes to attitude among certain staff!

This is really weird cos when I bother my arrse to check up on the working hours of those in Europe and the Germans in particular, I find that they work less hours, have more annual leave and in general, also have a much better work/life balance.

Maybe their managers at all levels are more efficient than ours?...maybe as a result of having to rebuild their country, they were able to do away with the old social divides?

Well, I would disagree. When working for Nortel, I started the same time as a couple of chaps who came from the Philippines. They were truly lazy and did a couple of jobs a day to the four or five jobs a day that the rest of us were doing.

Swinger

Most modern mps have little credibility in my eyes. Join the debating club and a party during a-levels, maybe do a gap year at daddy's friend's company, then it's straight into the party machine from unI before becoming an mp.10yrs later they still have f all experience and think work is drinking tea, shaking hands and smiling for the camera.

Admit there are some straglers and more should be done to tackle that, however the british have a strong work ethic (perhaps enhanced by economic migrants -look how hard eastern Europeans work). our main problems are the lack of investment in infrastructure and in industry where we could have a comparative advantage.

These authors may also wish to look at asset stripping and tax avoidance by larger firms. The latter could provide a much needed boost in direct investment

LE

I agree, Asian culture is not something to aspire too. However, having been out of the country for some time, popping back and forth, I do notice how sloppy things are getting....just from simple things such as BT engineers cars not being washed for god knows how long, roads not being repaired to high standards etc.

However, thats not to say that all British workers are idle and I have definatly seen much more idleness in other european countries. I also do not think you can class a whole part on the views of 5 little known tories. To say that the tories are utter ***** and live on a different planet is ridiculous, particularly when we have just come out of leadership of such a political party that thought that the more it borrowed, the better the economy would be (despite the fact that its on the verge of bankruptcy itself) and that the tory party are making progress in sorting out the problems that Labour in its ludicrous infinite wisdom caused

LE

I agree, Asian culture is not something to aspire too. However, having been out of the country for some time, popping back and forth, I do notice how sloppy things are getting....just from simple things such as BT engineers cars not being washed for god knows how long, roads not being repaired to high standards etc.

However, thats not to say that all British workers are idle and I have definatly seen much more idleness in other european countries. I also do not think you can class a whole part on the views of 5 little known tories. To say that the tories are utter ***** and live on a different planet is ridiculous, particularly when we have just come out of leadership of such a political party that thought that the more it borrowed, the better the economy would be (despite the fact that its on the verge of bankruptcy itself) and that the tory party are making progress in sorting out the problems that Labour in its ludicrous infinite wisdom caused